Published on 12, July, 2020
One of the things I hate about being autistic is not always seeing when I am being manipulated by another person.
I am not usually in favour of the 'us and them' type debates when it comes to NTs and ND, but does anyone else get sick and tired of NTs being hypocritical or manipulating situations or persons to save their own skin or create an advantage for themselves?
Being older means I am now wiser to most tricks, but I still miss when those close to me are trying to pull the wool over my eyes, probably because I trust them more and let my guard down a little.
The same can be said when it comes to exploiting vulnerabilities and weaknesses. I can run out of fingers counting the number of incidents where family have been completely hypocritical over the festive period and I don't think they even do it intentionally, they just can't help themselves! I can't imagine what it must be like to live like this, to feel you have to twist every situation to your advantage. I once had an internal debate around masking and whether that classed as manipulation as I was fraught with the ethics attached to it. I came to the conclusion that although it was technically dishonest in relation to who I was, it was also done in self-defense to help me keep my head down and out of the way of those that like to exploit. But could the same be said of NTs? Do they see their actions as a form of self-preservation, but to the extent that the end game is to be in a better position than where they started?
If that is the case are we merely as bad as one another, where only our perception of the what is right and wrong with the components of deception, actually differ? We mask to survive, so our end game is to be in a safe and comfortable situation (no threats), whereas for NTs it might be to get a promotion in a job, gain respect from others etc.
I would like to think my intentions around masking are innocent and only done to survive in a world that demands it - it is never done with the intention to hurt others. But could NTs also be doing the same, they mask and manipulate because the same world demands it - it's the intentions and damage caused from said actions I struggle to understand. Are they always aware the consequences of their actions, or do they go about this intuitively without thought? This is something that has been buzzing round my head for most of the day.
I think people with autism are often easier to manipulate due to their way of thinking. But I think NTs are often manipulated too. It is also not all NTs that manipulate. I have also met a number of people with autism that are very manipulative.
I think some manipulative behaviour is innocent and like with masking the person may not even be aware they are doing. I'm not sure I'd consider masking actual manipulation though. I wonder whether any of this counts as manipulation if it is not deliberate. Some manipulation is simply to get what that person wants. Other manipulation can be sinister and calculated and this is far more harmful.
Perhaps the effects of manipulation is worse if you have autism because of the difficulties over reading people's intentions.
I think in short this is very complicated and I think it goes much further than just whether people are ND or NT.
Absolutely and at the end of the day, the only people we can take responsibility for is ourselves. I know I'm extremely vulnerable to manipulation therefore I keep my distance from people and spend most of my time by myself and I make sure I keep my side of the street clean. And it turns out, that having lots of time by myself, is really good for me, whether I like it or not, so realising I was vulnerable was a really great thing for me. It gave me my alone time and time to work out just how I do fit into the world or what it is I do actually enjoy doing, which makes me less vulnerable to manipulation.